Apartment tower a first step in reshaping Uptown Park

Uptown Park's owner wants it to become a much higher density development with housing, hotel rooms and office space in addition to retail.

Uptown Park's owner wants it to become a much higher density...

Developers are planning a 26-story luxury rental tower for a site in Uptown Park, the first step in a long-range redevelopment proposal to turn the sprawling shopping center on 17 acres into a pedestrian friendly mixed-use district.

AmREIT, the owner of Uptown Park has signed an agreement with Patrinely Group to jointly develop the residential high-rise, a $90.7 million project that will have 250 apartments, ground-floor retail and underground parking.

Uptown Park's location at the interchange of Post Oak Boulevard and the West Loop gives it a strategic advantage in light of the explosive development around it, said AmREIT's chairman, president and CEO, H. Kerr Taylor.

Infrastructure improvements are planned for the area, including the Uptown Bus Rapid Transit line that would put bus-only lanes along Post Oak. Construction cranes line Post Oak Boulevard for retail and residential projects. And new offices for such companies as Apache, BBVA Compass, BHP Billiton, Frost Bank and others are up or under construction.

"Our projects will be a beneficiary," Taylor said Wednesday in a conference call discussing the company's first-quarter earnings.

Earlier this year, AmREIT announced the sweeping plan to redevelop Uptown Park, which it has owned for almost 10 years, into a much higher density development with housing, hotel rooms and office space valued at $1.2 billion.

The Houston-based real estate company has identified seven potential development sites in the multibuilding Italianate shopping center built 15 years ago and plans to add significantly to the existing 169,000 square feet of retail space.

Planning and landscape architecture firm SWA Group has been hired to work on the project, which involves bringing most of the parking underground.